Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Buys 128,090 Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) by 30.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 544,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 128,090 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.09% of Welltower worth $68,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WELL. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:WELL opened at $147.22 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.87 and a twelve month high of $158.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $138.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.86. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. Equities research analysts expect that Welltower Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Welltower’s payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WELL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.42.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience.